SEO Best Practices

Editorial content that succeeds in search is relevant, unique, engaging, and responds to search users' questions. Content planning begins with keyword research, but search volume alone does not make it a good topic—ten million people might search "When did Overwatch Beta come out?" next week, but no one will find our article about it unless we add something unique and interesting to the discussion.

Once an article answers at least one question about the focus keyword, the fan contributor should edit it for spelling, grammar, and reading ease. Then it is time to optimize other on-page elements so that search bots can find and read the page.

Contents

Best Practices

Choose a keyword

A good focus keyword summarizes the main topic of the entire article in 2-5 words; it is the word or phrase that the article could reasonably be expected to rank for in search.

Take a position

Rather than just writing “this thing happened,” what do you have to say? Can you say something new? Can you say something that will get someone’s attention? Is it clear that you are an expert in this topic?

Anticipate questions

Focus on a question, concern, or problem the reader has in the first paragraph and use the rest of the article to respond.

Be scannable

Many people reading content online don't read every single word unless it seems like it's worth their time. That means your article needs to be easily scannable. You can achieve this by:

Using short paragraphs (2-4 sentences)

including headings and sub-heading

Using bullet points

Ensuring your Flesch score is 60 or higher.

Optimize images

Images and videos must have descriptive file names and relevant alt text.

Include links

include a minimum of 3 links, either internal or external. Fan Contributors are free to link to other websites if the content is more relevant and/or authoritative, but do not link to disreputable sites.